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July 29 - August 28, 2020
1 John 3:10: “Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is he who does not love his brother.”
Psalm 15 became my guide. Psalm 15 directed me to keep my promises and showed me how to work in God’s strength to do so.
By wallowing in pity, I was holding myself back from going boldly to the throne of grace.
I knew that God calls us to walk in faith, not to be paralyzed by doubt. As Pastor Ken once said to me, “You can’t steer a parked car. If you want to turn your life around, you’ve got to get moving!”
“People will betray you, but Jesus never will.”
Finally, betrayal deepens our Christian vision: The Cross is a rugged place, not a place for the squeamish or self-righteous.
“I didn’t give a damn about who God was to you in your happiness. But now that you are suffering, I want to know: Who is your God? Where is he in your suffering?”
And never again will I confuse other people’s hopes and dreams for me as proof of God’s will.
John 3:17 says, “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved.” This verse gives me greater clarity into how to read the one that comes before it. It tells me that if Jesus did not come into the world to condemn it, then neither should Christians.
Meyer says, “Unbelief puts circumstances between itself and Christ, so as not to see Him.…Faith puts Christ between itself and circumstances, so that it cannot see them” (p. 17).
I spent the best Christmas Eve of my life in their home (even though, for several reasons, I didn’t then and don’t now celebrate Christmas).
Christ chooses you or you’re dead. After Christ chooses you, you respond because you must. Period. It’s not a pretty story.
Christians act as though marriage redeems sin. Marriage does not redeem sin. Only Jesus himself can do that.
Men and women are not independent individuals who happen to share the same dwelling. They are mutually dependent upon one another and each is incomplete without the other.
Since marriage is by God’s design, and not by man’s, it is plain that marriage must conform to God’s will.
The separation of a husband and wife is like the severing of a part of the body. This truth also has important implications for how husbands and wives are to treat one another, as we will see.
the Bible speaks of love not in terms of feeling but of action.
A happy family is not one where each member gets to do his or her own thing. A happy family fears God and strives for obedience.
When Christ is not at the center, all of our good intentions are swallowed up by selfishness.
I remember someone telling me that God doesn’t act quickly, he acts suddenly.
Children in the foster care system have birth parents who do not know their limits.
They try to parent beyond their means.
A family that never opens its heart never feels heartbroken. A family that never welcomes in others never misses them when they leave. A family that never embraces life’s risks, never really lives.
if you want the sweet mercy then you must also swallow the bitter mercy.
And what is the difference between sweet and bitter? Only this: your critical perspective, your worldview.
Anything worth doing will take time and cost you something.
Wanted or not, adoption always starts with loss.
God calls us to discipline our children in an effective way. Spanking is not the only means of discipline, and for children who have been abused it is the least effective means.
Public education is one choice among many, but it is not the norm against which other schooling options are to be graded.
Rahab the Harlot. Mary Magdalene. We love these women between the pages of our Bible, but we don’t want to sit at the Lord’s Table with them—with people like me—drinking from a common cup. That’s the real ringer: the common cup—that is, our common origin in depravity. We are only righteous in Christ and in him alone. But that’s a hard pill to swallow, especially if you give yourself kudos for good choices.
They knew the significance of a cultural icon and could place it in history.
But even at four and seven, they knew that ideas have shape, form, and significance.
Compassion means “with suffering” and involves entering into the suffering of another in order to lead the way out.
Mercy ministry always comes down to this: You can help, but only Jesus can heal.
We prayed that J would talk, but God taught us to listen to and respond to a scared boy who at first talked with his eyes. Then, I think that when we learned to listen, it became safe for J to talk.
Lloyd-Jones, D. Martin. Spiritual Depression: Its Causes and Its Cures. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdman’s Publishing Company, 1965, 1980.
Pearcey, Nancy. Total Truth: Liberating Christianity from its Cultural Captivity. Wheaton, Ill.: Crossway, 2005.
Tripp, Paul David. Age of Opportunity: A Biblical Guide to Parenting Teens. Phillipsburg, N.J.: P&R Publishing, 1997.
Welch, Edward T. Blame it on the Brain? Distinguishing Chemical Imbalances, Brain Disorders, and Disobedience. Phillipsburg, N.J.: P&R Publishing, 1998.
Bortins, Leigh A. The Core: Teaching Your Child the Foundations of Classical Education. N.Y.: Palgrave MacMillan, 2010.
